I’m a huge fan of the 1979′s Alien. To me, Ridley Scott’s classic shocker is the perfect marriage between sci-fi and horror and I still remember being memorized as a seven-year-old by the film’s pulse pounding television ad spots when they aired during the film’s original theatrical run. I was finally able to watch the film a few years later when it was broadcast on pay TV station First Choice-Superchannel back in the early 1980s. And I’ve been enamoured with it ever since.

So, it’s no wonder that I’m happy to have stumbled across news (of which I unfortunately missed out on when it was first announced a while back) that California-based toy and collectibles company Super7 will be marketing a line of retro-styled, 3 3/4-inch Alien action figures sometime this year. What makes this series so special though is that the figures will be styled exactly like the prototypes created by legendary toy manufacturer Kenner back in the late ’70s for an unrealized Alien toy line. Adding a nice touch is that the figures will come packaged on retro-styled blister cards featuring vintage 1979 Kenner artwork.

Holding the licence to make Alien-themed action figures and other playthings, Kenner produced a board game and an 18-inch tall figure of the film’s formidable H.R. Giger-designed monster. But sales for the large scale figure (which came complete with extendible ”metal” teeth and a bendable, spiked tail) were lacklustre, and plans for a series of 3 3/4-inch tall (a scale made popular by the company’s then-recently released Star Wars line) action figures were scrapped.

Featured below are images of the original Kenner prototypes for Lt. Ripley, Science Officer Ash, Captain Dallas, Kane (in spacesuit) and the Alien:

With the figures being produced directly from the original Kenner prototypes, the toys will lack the realistic features and numerous points of articulation that come with modern collectibles from companies like McFarlane, NECA and Sideshow. But the original figures’ status as one of the great “lost toy” lines will no doubt make these new offerings a hit with collectors of vintage, retro-styled toys.

Though price and exact release date are still TBA, you check out the company’s press release for more info: